Echoes

An apparent terrorism threat in Germany linked to the G8 summit --

U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said recent intelligence reports suggested possible involvement by Kurdish Islamists from outside Germany.

The group is believed to be affiliated with al Qaeda but not formally a part of the militant network led by Osama bin Laden, they said. They had no specific information about targets or timing.

Some German media reports have suggested involvement by Iraqi militants. However, U.S. officials rejected the notion of a role by Ansar al-Islam, a militant group of Iraqi Kurds and Arabs who have vowed to establish an independent Islamic state in Iraq.

Note two things. First, the US would be especially eager never to hear the name Ansar al-Islam again, since it's at the heart of the lies about the Saddam-al Qaeda linkage. The group is affiliated with al Qaeda and did host Abu Musab al-Zarqawi prior to March 2003 -- but it was based in the northern no-fly zone when Saddam was in power. He couldn't have done anything about them. Kind of awkward to have them still around when the US could have put them out of business five years ago without invading Iraq.

Second, threats linked to G8 summits have a history of their own. After all, there was a previous G8 summit where --

The huge force of officers and equipment which has been assembled to deal with unrest has been spurred on by a warning that supporters of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden might attempt an air attack on some of the world leaders present.

Anti-aircraft missiles have been deployed at the airport, and naval vessels are patrolling the seas.

That was in July 2001, before the Genoa summit -- right at the time when George Bush and Condi Rice didn't think that air attacks by Osama bin Laden could possibly be that big a deal.